Page 50 of Rogue's Path

Before they came, I went in and did my own recognizance to ensure we avoided mistakes. “Don’t let anything fall.” They’re going to drop something. “This job is all about precision. Vandal, you’re up first.”

He zips up the suit and pulls on his mask. “I’m ready.”

“No, you’re not. What are you missing?”

Vandal searches around without a single clue.

“Guys, I want you to work together to make sure each of you has all your protective garments on properly.” So I don’t go out of my mind reminding each of you to put your gloves on. It’s going to be a really long day.

***

“Did you kill them?” Havoc asks as I step into his office seven hours later.

Over and over again in my mind. “They’re alive.” Just barely.

“This making you wanna have kids?” Havoc sets down the order sheet he’s looking at.

“Not in the least. I’ll leave that to you. How is Creed handling all of this?”

“Well enough. Though he’s so much like me sometimes.”

Which is a good thing. His mother didn’t have much to recommend her but a pretty face. Which lost its appeal when she cheated on Havoc. Leaving Creed alone in the house at four, so she could go buy drugs, got her banned from our territory forever. She isn’t a kill-on-sight, even though I voted to add that order. “And the problem with that is?”

“Creed offered to go undercover and infiltrate the drug dealers.” There’s a little puff of pride mixed with the fear in his voice.

“You nipped that in the bud.”

“Yeah.”

There’s a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Havoc shouts.

Bear pokes his head in the door. “Got a minute?”

Havoc always makes time for a brother. “What’s up?”

“It’s about the night we protected those women.” Bear taps his leg, which is his equivalent of pacing.

Great. What else went wrong?

“So there was this woman.”

They’re all women…well, except for the one guy. He more than held his own in the bar fight.

“She was a chatty drunk. You know that stage they get before stupid drunk. This chick was self-aware enough to have some coffee and food to try not to get sloppy drunk.”

Why do I need to know this?

“Anyway, before she got the coffee, she was friendly and chatty.”

Get to the point!!!! I don’t want to hear about this woman.

“In the middle of her rhetoric, which made me laugh, she told me she had a stalker.”

WHAT?

“And you believe her?” Havoc leans forward.